The news magazine about Visual Tech

Category Archives: Facebook

And so it starts. First, with a toe in the water . Soon it will be the whole body. Image based social media site Pinterest has just officially announced it’s debut in monetizing its platform via advertising. Similar to Instagram, it is laced with the words “test” and “beta” everywhere and there is a good reason for that. Like Instagram, Pinterest has a massive source of users ( 34.9 million uniques/month) accustomed to an ad-free environment. They feel, similar to all social media users, that…

There are two types of tech start-ups in the photo space: Those who enhance the photographic experience and those who use photos as a starting point. The first are your editing, filter, archiving apps and web services like Instagram, EyeEm or VSCO, the second are usually in the social media realm, like Facebook, Pinterest or G+. Walking the aisles of Techcrunch’s Disrupt NY mostly confirmed this division. Most new photo/tech companies present offered solutions to the photographic flow, allowing users to better managed their ever-growing…

Let’s face it. Photos are dumb. Without context they don’t reveal much. While they can be really good at evoking emotions, they are really bad at explaining their content. In fact, without a viewer, an image explains nothing. Let me explain. When confronted with a photograph, we are only able to recognize the items in it because of our memory. We have seen them before, thus we know what they are. Those unfamiliar to us remain unknown. A photo explains only if you already know the…

It didn’t last long. Less than a week after Dropbox and Twitter announced new photo oriented features, the other major players responded. Loud and clear. Google bets on Email First Google. Today, it announced a tighter integration of its very popular Gmail with it’s photo backup solution Google Photo album. Now, it will be even easier to attached photos to any email directly from your drive account. One click easy. Since email is still the most used online communication tool – that is changing too*-,…

We all know that photos are key to engagement. Tech companies know it, but more important, the advertising world knows it. And although no one has fully mastered its potential, everyone knows that photography is the most important asset of the web today. That is why, more and more, we see a converging effort by tech companies to become the center of our photography life. Whomever controls your photo stream, controls your social life. The battle has raged between Facebook and Google + to be…

Imgur newly announced massive round of funding ( $40 Million by Andreessen Horowitz) is a captivating shot at the bow of the photo tech world, and here’s why: Practically unknown outside the geek and nerd world, Imgur is not your traditional photo sharing platform because it has nothing to do with photography. Users do not go on Imgur to look at pretty images, or to review last night party or even post photos of their latest vacation. Rather, it is a photo hosting site for…

Social media photo platforms, rising in numbers from the dual pull of Instagram $1 billion acquisition and people’s insatiable appetite for mobile photography, are facing a complicated maturity issue: How to monetize without defection ? The first step of all social media photo platform is to gain traction by gaining market share. Here, all the models are the same : using the network effect, grow your users base to a comfortable number ( usually in the millions active users) by offering them a set of…

It was just a question of time. We have repeatedly wrote here about how the current photo licensing model is broken and obsolete. We also explained at full length how image data collection and third-party revenue are the new gold mine. Getty apparently heard and is now applying. (If you want to read how it works, there is a great full explanation here) Getty Images announcement today that it has put 35 Million of its 80 million images up for free is…

Photo app EyeEm announcement today that it will be opening an image licensing database made of photos submitted by its users brings an interesting though to the photo tech space. Considered by many as the gentle Instagram’s – its ToS does not attempt a copyright grab- it has managed to carve itself a respectable area in the very crowded space of the phone app with a sharing network. Being a free app, it is now trying to find a revenue model that preserves its photographer/contributor…

How brands use photography on social media should be an indication on how to monetize photography on social media. By now, most of them are fully aware that having a presence on social media is an absolute must. Minimum, the big three, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Since the buzz recently has been strong about Pinterest bringing in the most traffic conversion, although not entirely correct, it has also joined the mix. According to the CMO survey by Duke University companies currently spend 7.4% of their…